The Mortuary Assistant's Ending Explained: How The Horror Movie's Finale Compares To The Original Game

The following contains spoilers for The Mortuary AssistantThe Mortuary Assistant is a tense horror movie that carries a strong moral core. Based on the video game of the same name, the film follows an intern working her first job as a mortician, only to discover that a demon is possessing the bodies. It's a largely self-contained horror film, focused on her efforts to escape the demon.

Throughout the film, the demon serves as a stand-in for several challenges, including suicidal ideation, self-loathing, and traumatic grief. It all builds to the film's final act, where Rebecca is forced to confront her demons (both literal and metaphorical) and reckon with the tough but necessary realities of living with such darkness.

The Mortuary Assistant Sticks With One Of The Game's Endings

The Mortuary Assistant's finale is reflective of the source material's "good" ending, using the turn to put emphasis on the film's themes of confronting lingering trauma over outright defeating it. At the core of Rebecca's story is her efforts to escape the grasp of the demon haunting the Mortuary.

Each attempt to discover more about the demon and to figure out which body to burn forces her to confront the demon's influence and machinations, including hallucinations and visions of her past, focusing on the accidental death of her father while he was trying to save her life during a near overdose she experienced as a young woman.

The original game includes multiple potential endings, including ones where Rebecca is fully possessed by the demon or turned into another source of contaminated blood for Raymond to use in the rituals against the demon. However, the film ultimately goes with one of the "Good" endings from the game, specifically the "Closure" ending.

After seeing a vision of her father that convinces her to let go of her guilt over his demise, Rebecca is able to complete the process of identifying the body possessed by the demon, determine its name, and destroy the corpse. However, Raymond warns her that the demon will return and that he can help her combat it.

While she's initially tempted to flee, Rebecca can see the demon watching her from the nearby woods and reluctantly returns to the building. This plays into the film's interpretation of Raymond's call to action, telling her that she can't just run from her problems but must be prepared to face them again whenever they resurface.

Notably, this also leaves out of one of the darker elements of the game. In one of the endings available to players after multiple playthroughs, Raymond is revealed to have a second possessed person hidden in the basement: his mother, whom he uses like Valery as a resource in his efforts to combat and contain the demon.

What Does The Demon In The Mortuary Assistant Actually Want

The demons in The Mortuary Assistant are actually fairly straightforward, with a clear desire to possess a living host so they truly walk the Earth. While the bodies of the recently deceased serve as a useful conduit, the demons seem to need time so they break the spirit of someone so that they can fully take them over.

Audiences get a taste of what kind of fate could be awaiting Rebecca through Valery, a woman Raymond keeps trapped in the building's basement. Implied to be one of the other former employees of the Mortuary who wasn't able to escape the demon's grasp, Raymond repeatedly tells Rebecca that it is no longer Valery.

The demon possessing Valery is able to hide itself beneath the woman's humanity and take advantage of Rebecca's kindness, almost escaping after briefly tricking her. However, Raymond is able to keep her contained. Raymond then uses her blood as a catalyst to help destroy the possessed corpses.

The demon in The Mortuary Assistant is a somewhat broad threat, with no real motivation beyond the joy of causing pain. However, that makes it a very adaptable piece of symbolism for the film. At various points, the demon represents Rebecca's struggles with sobriety, her guilt over her father's death, and the very concept of trauma.

The True Meaning Of The Mortuary Assistant

At the core of The Mortuary Assistant is a story about trauma. The demon haunting both Rebecca and Raymond tries to use their personal histories to its advantage, drawing on the worst memories either of them has to try and break their spirits. It serves as a visual stand-in for the weight of that grief and regret.

It's established early in The Mortuary Assistant that Rebecca had previously tried to take her own life, as evidenced by the scars on her arms and by the demon's attempts to convince her to do so again. The demon serves as a living metaphor for those dark thoughts, always plaguing Rebecca throughout the film.

This is partly why the ending is so thematically rich, as Raymond sadly acknowledges that Rebecca will never be able to fully escape that trauma. She will always have to deal with the demon now that it has latched onto her, a metaphor for people who must deal with trauma that won't simply go away.

Instead, Rebecca is forced to consider her options. She can either run from it, give in to it, or confront it head-on. The ending of the film, which sees her decide to continue working with Raymond, highlights the importance of persevering in the face of darkness. It gives The Mortuary Assistant a strong message to root its horror around.